Albert F. Yee named UCI Division Director

Albert F. Yee, an internationally renowned materials science professor, researcher and engineer,
has been named director of the UC Irvine Division of the California Institute for
Telecommunications and Information Technology. Yee's appointment completes the leadership
team of Cal-(IT), which is jointly operated with UC San Diego. He also will hold a faculty
position in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in The Henry Samueli
School of Engineering.

Yee brings 32 years of professional and academic experience to the institute and university. His
research focuses on the physical and mechanical properties of polymers and soft materials,
particularly as applied to nanotechnology, and his inventions in the field have led to two U.S.
patents. His work is especially significant for developing complex micro- and nano-electronic and
biomedical devices, which integrate many layers and channels of different materials. He intends to
continue this research, enhancing Cal-(IT)'s strength in materials and devices.
Yee comes to UCI from the University of Michigan , where he is a professor in the departments
of materials science and engineering, macromolecular science and engineering, and chemical
engineering, and a former chair of materials science and engineering (1994-2000). While on leave
from Michigan, Yee served as the director of the Institute of Materials Research & Engineering in
Singapore. "Albert Yee is an international leader in his field," said Larry Smarr, director of Cal-(IT) and professor of computer science and engineering at UCSD. "His experience as director of
the Singapore institute - similar in complexity to Cal-(IT) - is especially critical to our future
success. With Yee and Ramesh Rao, UCSD division director, we now have leadership for the
core layers of the institute - materials, networking and software."

Yee's career also includes more than a decade as an engineer and engineering manager at General
Electric, in addition to serving an industry consultant. He was named one of the top 200 highly
cited materials scientists, according to the Institute for Scientific Information, and has published
more than 140 papers in scholastic journals. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and
of the PMSE Division of the American Chemical Society. Yee received bachelor's and doctorate
degrees in chemistry from UC Berkeley.
Yee's appointment begins Jan. 1, 2004. He will replace William H. Parker, UCI vice chancellor for
research and dean of graduate studies, who has served as UCI's interim director of Cal-(IT).